The Destiny 2 PC beta begins soon. While the first instalment of Destiny skipped the PC in favour of consoles (it was on the PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, and Xbox One), its sequel won’t be making the same mistake. The PC version of Destiny 2 replaces the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions — no surprise since those consoles are over 10 years old. This is what you need to know about the Destiny 2 beta.

How to play the Destiny 2 betaSimilar to the Destiny 2 beta on the PS4 and Xbox One, pre-ordering grants you access to the game a day ahead of others. We won’t be surprised to see Bungie or publisher Activision give away keys on Twitter, and we expect Destiny 2 PC beta keys to find their way to sites like eBay. Considering the game costs Rs. 3,799 ($60 in the US), you’re better off waiting for one day to try the game, in our opinion.

Destiny 2 beta is not on SteamBungie has confirmed that you’ll need ) that you’ll need Battle.net to play Destiny 2. This extends to the beta as well. Chances are if you play Overwatch, Diablo, Starcraft, or World of Warcraft, you know what to expect in terms of user experience.

Destiny 2 PC beta start times and dates

The Destiny 2 PC beta stars from 10am PT (10:30pm IST) on August 28 for those who pre-ordered. General access begins from August 29 and the beta ends on August 31.

Destiny 2 beta client pre-load You will be able to preload the Destiny 2 beta client in advance of the test, starting at 10am PT (10:30pm IST) on August 25.

Destiny 2 beta download size

The Destiny 2 PC beta download size is around 16GB according to Bungie. It was 12.596GB on the PS4 and 12.83GB on the Xbox One.

Destiny 2 beta system requirements

If you’ve held off upgrading or building a new gaming PC, you’re in luck. Destiny 2 PC requirements aren’t as steep compared to most newer titles. While the initial reveal saw the game running on PC with an i7 7700K processor and an Nvidia GeForce 1080Ti video card in 4K at 60 frames per second, it seems you can get away with far less.

Destiny 2 PC beta — what to expect The Destiny 2 beta will focus on campaign, co-operative, and competitive experiences much like it did on the PS4 and Xbox One. These include:

Homecoming: the opening mission and cinematics from Destiny 2’s Red War story campaign, which was shown off during the Destiny 2 gameplay reveal.

Countdown: battle other players in a brand new Crucible multiplayer mode. Attack or defend on a new map custom-built to support this new game type.

Control: this mode in Destiny 2’s Crucible has you controlling zones on a map much like the original.

The Inverted Spire strike: this co-op mission has you and two friends attack the Vex — one of the game’s cyborg races on Nessus, a lush Vex world.

New subclasses: new fighting styles for each Class will be available. These include the Dawnblade Warlock, Arcstrider Hunter, or Sentinel Titan.

Destiny 2 PC beta vs Destiny 2 PS4 and Xbox One beta Aside from supporting upto 144 frames per second and 4K resolution, the Destiny 2 PC beta will also improve on the PS4 and Xbox One beta gameplay in some meaningful ways.

«During the console beta, we learned a lot from the players who entered the Crucible [Destiny 2’s player versus player mode] ,” Multiplayer Design Lead Lars Bakken says in a blog post from Bungie. «Some of these learnings will be on display in the PC beta. Our core goals haven’t changed. We still want to serve all players who love the thrill of competition with fair and fun matches. We have, however, done a bit of work under the hood.»

«One of our goals for Destiny 2 has been to create two different ways to challenge yourself against other players. From this point forward, to allow for more varied experiences between the playlists, matchmaking for Quickplay and Competitive will be tuned separately. Along with some other changes to the rule sets for specific game types, these are the moods we want to cultivate in the new Crucible.»

What this means is, Quickplay in Destiny 2’s Crucible will be geared towards making it faster for you to find a match while the Competitive mode will be adjusted to find you the right level of combatants, which may lead to a longer time to get into a match.

In addition to this, the Destiny 2 PC beta should see a host of fixes including increased grenade damage and faster recharge times for ultimate abilities.

Are you playing the Destiny 2 beta on PC? Or has the first game done enough to keep you from bothering? Let us know via the comments.

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